Omezzo Restaurant & Pizzeria is easily missed. The restaurant is tucked away in a strip
center that isn’t readily visible from Rt. 256, aka Hill Road N. on the outskirts of
Pickerington.

The single large dining room boasts tables with white tablecloths and clean, simple decor.

By virtue of the mostly old-time Italian menu, one might expect a
red-and-white-checkered-tablecloth establishment.

In that vein, the salad ($3.29 a la carte) is mostly iceberg, with an occasional snip of
romaine. There are also pieces of commercial tomato, grated cheese and croutons.

The old-style house-made dressing is competent but not particularly compelling.

Wedding soup ($3.29 a cup, $4.29 a bowl) is available daily. Pearl pasta, pieces of carrot and
leaf spinach are in a broth marred by the flavor of bouillon cube or stock concentrate, which has
an MSG-type aftertaste. Not even the presence of three miniature meatballs and their seasoning of
dried herbs can mask the effect.

The house-made meatballs are very meaty, using coarse-ground beef, no fillers, and light
seasonings of pepper, salt and fresh basil. They are available as an entree ($11.99), served on
angel-hair pasta that is tossed with a chunky marinara (also made on-site). The sauce is sprightly
with basil and not oily.

The dish comes with a slice of a good version of old-time garlic bread — garlic, oil and dried
herbs, all on French-style bread.

The chunky nature of the marinara makes the meat lasagna ($9.99) work. Its piquant pieces of
tomato manage to balance the inherent richness of the layers of ribbon pasta, which hold ricotta,
ground beef, onions, and, of course, grated mozzarella, melted into the marinara.

As noted on the menu, the baked ziti ($8.99) is actually made with rigatoni. Mixed throughout
are ricotta, egg and Parmesan, which are baked just enough to set up the eggs. As with the lasagna,
the house marinara lightens the dish.

The spaghetti with meat sauce ($9.99) is a blend of coarsely ground beef, tomato, fresh basil, a
hint of garlic and grated cheese.

Bolognese-like in depth, the sauce is balanced properly with tomato.

Omezzo’s chicken Marsala ($11.99) doesn’t taste as if any Marsala was used. A boneless breast is
lightly sauteed in butter and wine along with mushrooms. It is served with thin spaghetti that is
lightly dressed with a cheese sauce and a few dried herbs. There are also similarly dressed
vegetables, such as carrot, cauliflower, broccoli and zucchini.

Overall, the garlic level is low, and the dishes sampled didn’t suffer from excess richness.

Omezzo has finally obtained a wine license. The “chianti” ($5 for a large pour) is from a box
and, despite claims by the server that it is from Italy, has a sweet finish and no Italian
character.